Imperfect bifurcation in the rotation of a propeller-shaped camphor rotor

Abstract

We investigated the bifurcation structure on the self-propelled motion of a camphor rotor at a water surface. The center of the camphor rotor was fixed by the axis, and it showed rotational motion around it. Due to the chiral asymmetry of its shape, the absolute values of the angular velocities in clockwise and counterclockwise directions were different. This asymmetry in the angular velocities implies an imperfect bifurcation. From the numerical simulation results, we discuss the condition for the occurrence of the imperfect bifurcation.